For Minority Psychological Well being Month, listed here are some tales of individuals breaking down stigma and constructing group.
• • •
Mary Kirkendoll is all about beginning significant conversations.
That is how he received concerned within the upcoming Minority Psychological Well being Consciousness Picnic within the Park. The occasion shall be from 6 to eight pm on Wednesday, July 27 at South Park. It’s free and open to the general public.
“That is about uplifting and celebrating BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and Individuals of Colour) expertise and voices in the neighborhood,” Kirkendoll stated.
Kirkendoll, who works as a Douglas County Neighborhood Navigator, grew up in Lengthy Seaside, California. Her mom, who was white, was a faculty instructor from the inside metropolis. Kirkendoll’s father, who’s Japanese, has not been concerned in her life since she was a child.
Kirkendoll’s mom had an extended historical past of psychological sickness, however was not recognized till later in life, when it was found that she had bipolar dysfunction and schizophrenia.
“My curiosity in psychological well being actually stems from caring for my mother rising up. That was rather a lot for a child,” Kirkendoll stated. “We take care of so many psychological well being points. I noticed how debilitating her sickness was.”
When Kirkendoll was engaged on her Ph.D. on the College of Kansas, her mom, who was again in California, was dedicated to a psychological establishment, however Kirkendoll didn’t know what had occurred.
“I did not know the place he was for 3 weeks; I assumed she was lifeless,” Kirkendoll stated. “From that second on, I made a decision to maintain her.”
Kirkendoll introduced her mom, who had been recognized with Alzheimer’s, to Kansas and have become her caregiver. Her mother remains to be her inspiration.
“Caring for my mother has opened a window for me to do that work, which is absolutely stunning,” Kirkendoll stated.
• • •
Randy Vidales was round eight or 9 years outdated when he remembers first experiencing social nervousness. The situation continued all through his faculty years. To manage, he turned inward.
“He was very quiet and withdrawn,” he stated. “My relations would punish me for that. I could not inform them that I felt uncomfortable in social settings.”
Vidales, a first-generation Latin American, grew up in each Kansas and Mexico.
“Psychological well being remains to be an enormous stigma within the Latino group,” Vidales stated. “Due to that and due to cultural traditions, rising up I did not really feel like I had a lot of a voice.”
Psychological well being was not one thing his household talked about.
“They advised me it was all in my head or in my creativeness,” Vidales stated.
Throughout his sophomore 12 months on the College of Kansas, Vidales determined to hunt assist. He grew to become near a fellow pupil who was majoring in psychology. She was additionally Hispanic American.
“That made it a lot extra comfy to know that she was from the identical background,” Vidales stated. “She might relate and perceive the place she was coming from.”
The pal directed him to KU Well being Providers, the place he obtained a proper analysis. Along with social nervousness, he was recognized with consideration deficit dysfunction.
Since 2018, Vidales has been a member of the Bert Nash Neighborhood Psychological Well being Heart supportive housing staff. She shares her personal experiences working with shoppers and continues to work on her personal psychological well being.
“It has been an extended journey, a journey that I firmly consider has no finish,” he stated. “However on the similar time, I notice it is extra in regards to the journey, the progress I’ve made.”
• • •
Demetrius “Dee” Kemp is somebody who is devoted to serving to others, however it took somebody like him to get him out of the darkest time of his life.
Kemp misplaced his two favourite individuals within the span of about two months. His mom died on November 30, 2020. About two months later, his sister died.
“Man, that nearly killed me,” Kemp stated. “I’ve misplaced individuals earlier than, however I’ve misplaced the 2 most essential girls in my life, again to again. My mother and sister have been like my finest pals.”
Kemp, who lives in Lawrence, had returned to Alabama for his sister’s funeral and was so depressed that he thought he won’t have the ability to return to Kansas. A pal of Kemp’s advised him a few niece, Eden, who was 5 years outdated on the time. Eden did not desire a social gathering or presents for her birthday; she wished to do a meals drive for homeless households in Emporia, the place she lives.
“I assumed if this little woman can try this, I want to return; I have to go assist her,” Kemp stated. “I received my pals collectively and stated, ‘I do know this is not in Lawrence, however this woman wants our assist, so let’s assist her.’ We collected sufficient meals for about 30 households.”
Kemp, who’s Black, stated that as a baby, feelings and psychological well being weren’t one thing individuals talked about.
“Individuals used to say that black individuals do not go loopy,” Kemp stated. “I met individuals who needed to have a psychological sickness, however it was by no means talked about.”
When Kemp went to Emporia to assist Eden, she advised her mother and father, “I by no means knew your daughter, however she reached down and pulled me. She was completed, she had given me up. That woman, man, she took me out.”
• • •
Household and group are crucial in native tribes.
On the College of Kansas, Melissa Peterson, in her function as director of tribal relations, serves as a sort of prolonged household for Native American college students. She works carefully with Lori Hasselman, Native American Pupil Success Coordinator.
“Our native college students are used to household and group, so once they come to school, we develop into that prolonged household,” Peterson stated. “Lori calls it Tía Amor. You hear that always in native communities.”
Final 12 months was Peterson’s first as director of tribal relations, a brand new place at KU. In actual fact, he got here to Lawrence to teach volleyball at Haskell Indian Nations College.
Peterson described her function at KU as “a extremely holistic sort of help system, and that features being good companions with our tribes and nurturing pupil improvement by way of studying about our native tribes.”
Peterson was a part of a panel dialogue for Psychological Well being Month in Could that was a collaboration between Haskell and the Bert Nash Neighborhood Psychological Well being Heart.
“There’s a lot to unravel in regards to the native peoples and the historical past that we now have endured, and we’re nonetheless coping with these points. Right here in Lawrence, we prefer to suppose we’re extra open-minded, and we’re, however it wasn’t too a few years in the past that natives could not get previous 19th Road,” Peterson stated.
Peterson was born and raised on the Navajo Nation in Arizona. She stated that psychological well being was not one thing that was mentioned. However she sees that issues are altering. The youthful indigenous technology is talking extra overtly about her psychological well being, she stated.
“I spent my first 12 months on this new place educating others in regards to the natives. We might not discuss particularly about psychological well being,” Peterson stated. “However I attempt to create occasions the place individuals can come collectively as a group. As a result of psychological well being is finest supported once we perceive one another and construct a group with one another.”
— Jeff Burkhead is director of communications on the Bert Nash Neighborhood Psychological Well being Heart.
